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my general instinct that's been sharpening over the years is: if you're moderately intelligent, perceptive, courageous, etc, you can very likely figure out a way to make more money doing what you love than you might believe. almost everyone's intuitions are miscalibrated on this https://t.co/8muhcyAztd
It is occurring to me that: 1) I quit my job so I could pursue independent research into Alexander Technique and adjacent fields 2) the course looks like it might generate good revenues 3) I might be able to pay people to help me research? It’s what I wanted but still wild
if you feel either a strong impulse to quit your job entirely because of this tweet, or a sharp sense of denial/refutation coming up, this probably doesn't apply to you but if you can absorb it in a playful-curious-thoughtful way: jobs/institutions train us in a constrained way
people don't really do the math 0.1% of people is a lot of people most aren't willing to take 1000 shots for the 0.1% payoff they'll write it off as risky lottery chasing but you just need to be able to afford those 1000 shots then it's just math, and victory is inevitable
it was inevitable that I would have an internet audience large enough that would pay my bills bc I was willing to work on it, for fun, for free, every day, for 10+ years, and I would've gone 10, 20, 30 more years if I had to talking to a dozen new people every day can't lose
"oh but not everyone is charismatic, not everyone knows how to adapt and evolve, how to identify mistakes in their own thinking, ask for feedback-" yea if you wanna argue for your limitations you get to keep them. stick to the existing paths. this is for the wildhearts
the bulk of the payoff/reward isn't really not for your intelligence but for your courage, your willingness to stomach uncertainty and deal with social illegibility and status regulation and so on. if you endure past that the rewards are disproportionate. but going offroad hurts
once you go far enough off the beaten path, past the arid zone where most casual experimenters give up (and there's no shame in that btw), things start to become clear. you start to see who the other serious players are and you develop a kinship with them. it's quite beautiful
but actually even that's not the cool thing. the cool thing is realizing that you can trust yourself to figure shit out, and take care of yourself, whatever the circumstances. that you are resourceful and adaptable. when you feel this in your bones, your entire vibe shifts
I can kind of tell when someone has this, I'd say to ~80-90% degree confidence, almost entirely based on the way they carry themselves, from their body language and their tone of voice, the muscular tension. I crossed this threshold at ~28yo https://t.co/myo1ZDZbWX
sometimes people ask about the "do 100 thing" riff/mantra like, "what if I do 100 thing but I don't get any better?" that means you're not learning from your experience. you're not present. you're running a mindless script as an absentee *person*. then u can't grow/win, yea
but then your challenge is, how do you stop being absent from your own life? how do you show up for yourself, pay attention, be here now? how do you actually listen to yourself, listen to others, in a sincere and open-hearted way, instead of just waiting for your turn to speak?